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Monday, 11 July 2016

When
I played through the original System Shock for the first time last
year, I didn’t enjoy it half as much as I’d hoped I would. I
found it more frustrating than fun, and not just because of it’s
fiddly UI and controls. I felt the game lacked structure in terms of
narrative, level design and progression.

I
still enjoyed the overall experience (hence my positive rating) but I
had little desire to play through the game again. But recently, a
System Shock remake has been announced, seeking funding via
Kickstarter. Based on an early surge, it’s looking likely that the
game will easily meet its funding goal. Hell, it will probably
surpass that goal before this post has even gone live.

But
the Kickstarter offers more than the typical written promises and
concept art. It’s accompanied by a short, pre-alpha demo. I gave
the demo a spin to see how it compared to the original and I thought
I’d share my impressions and hopes for what this remake may offer.

Graphically,
when compared to the original, the remake is obviously far superior.
Even though this demo is pre-alpha, and there’s clearly work still
to be done, the remake is shaping up nicely in terms of its graphics
– particularly its lighting and effects.

But
this was expected, as was the implementation of a more ‘modern’
control scheme and UI. It was nice stepping into the world of System
Shock again, and not immediately spending five minutes wrestling with
the controls.

I
think the most impressive thing in the demo in terms of the visuals,
is how they capture the original art direction. Yes, the improved
textures and detailed models are nice, but it was far more important
that the style of the original game remained intact.

The
demo also has some neat little animations for your character.
Unnecessary, maybe, but a nice touch that I hope carries over into
the final release. The demo itself is quite short – about 5 minutes
– and takes you through the opening area of the game. You get to
explore a little, fight 3 different enemy types and use a couple of
weapons.

As
far as a pre-alpha demo goes, it’s pretty convincing. But it is
limited. And there’s still a lot we don’t know with regard to how
the developers are approaching the remake in terms of level and
mission structure.

Because,
honestly, I’m not that excited or interested in a straight ‘like
for like’ remake of the original. Because as I said at the
beginning of this post (and in my System Shock review) there are
aspects of the original that frustrated me.

This
remake could be an opportunity to correct those issues. To
restructure the levels in a way that provides a more logical
consistency to design. To provide a clearer objective to the player.
To take aspects of System Shock 2 in terms of inventory management
and upgrading, and then apply them to the original.

Of
course, changes to the original design won’t please the purists,
but I do feel there are many aspects of the original game that can be
tweaked or altered for the benefit of the remake, without losing the
heart of what makes System Shock such a compelling series.

It’s
a tough line to walk, but if they get it right, the System Shock
remake could see a fantastic return for a beloved series and
introduce it to an entirely new audience. This is one I’ll be
keeping a close eye on. Let’s hope they don’t f**k it up.

Monday, 4 July 2016

Doom
may be the surprise hit of the year. The early gameplay videos
received a somewhat lukewarm response, with the game appearing oddly
slow. And the introduction of ‘cinematic’ kill-moves was hardly
well received. Then came a multiplayer beta with an overwhelmingly
negative reception. You can read my own post about it here.

But
then the game released, and to everyone’s surprise, it’s actually
really f**king good. At least, the single player campaign is. We’ll
talk more about the multiplayer later. The campaign of Doom is the
most fun I’ve had with a single player FPS in a long time. It’s
not the longest campaign – about 8-10 hours spread across 13 levels
– but it feels an appropriate length. It doesn’t end too soon,
nor drag tediously on.

The
campaign is well paced, continually introducing new enemy types,
weapons, upgrades and environments as you progress. Although each of
the 13 levels are essentially a linear slog from A to B, they are far
more expansive than you might expect. Exploration is an enjoyable
(and rewarding) component of the campaign.

There
are secrets to find on every level – collectibles, upgrade tokens,
hidden Doom ‘classic’ rooms and relic challenges. You’ll likely
miss many of these on your first run, but you can easily select to
replay any level with all unlocked weapons and abilities carried
through. Doom has surprising replay value thanks to these secrets and
it’s extensive additional challenges.

The
narrative aspects of the campaign are also superbly handled, with
minimal dialogue and cut-scenes interrupting the action. Overall, the
single player campaign is excellent in terms of content, progression
and replay value. But most importantly, what makes Doom such a joy to
play, is its gameplay mechanics.

Doom
is a wild adrenaline rush from start to finish. Many battles take
place in clearly signposted arenas featuring multiple levels and
platforms. Its combat system is designed around mobility and
aggression. There’s no regenerating health – and the limited
health packs carefully placed about these arenas only provide a
minimal boost.

If
you’re low on health in Doom, there’s only one solution – fight
harder. Weakening an enemy will cause them to stumble, allowing you
to trigger a cinematic ‘glory kill’ which will shower you with
fresh supplies of ammo and health.

You
have to be aggressive in Doom. You have to be willing to get close
and tear these unfortunate demons apart with your bare hands. There’s
no place for taking cover. There’s no waiting for the jam smeared
across your screen to clear.

The
glory kill system is ingenious at encouraging an aggressive style of
play, just as the arenas are designed to encourage mobility. So much
of the FPS genre has leant towards slow paced, duck and cover style
gameplay over the last several years, that Doom feels like a
refreshing return to the fast paced, adrenaline fuelled FPS of the
past.

And
it’s great how the movement and glory kill systems push players who
may not be accustomed to such aggressive, fast paced play, to do so.
Doom is all about momentum, about moving from one kill to the next as
rapidly and as efficiently as possible. It’s about building a
chain, one demon to the next, never stopping, never slowing until
everything on the screen is dead.

The
combat is further enhanced by its fantastic selection of weapons.
Ammo is limited, but it never feels restrictive. You’ll always have
enough ammo for every weapon, but not enough to use a single weapon
all of the time. Doom encourages you to switch weapons on the fly,
but that’s not all!

Nearly
every weapon also has two modifications to choose between. These
include a cluster bomb enhancement to your shotgun or, (my personal
favourite) micro-missiles for your assault rifle. And these weapon
mods can be switched out easily and quickly during battle, adding yet
more layers of depth, variety and strategy to combat.

Probably
the only disappointing aspect of the Doom campaign is the relic
challenges. These are self-contained challenges that involve
performing actions according to a specific set of rules – such as
killing X amount of demons using only exploding barrels. But all of
these challenges tend to be very short and easy and have practically
zero replay value.

Although
the relic upgrades they unlock add additional customisation to your
play style, the actual challenges are fairly dull. Aside from that,
my only other gripe is that the final boss is a little lacklustre
compared to some of the previous boss fights.

The
campaign is accompanied by an appropriately pounding soundtrack that
kicks in and ramps up at just the right moments. In terms of visuals,
Doom is a great looking game with some amazing weapon and character
models. And in terms of performance, Doom is excellent, with a rock
solid 60FPS even on Ultra settings.

Overall,
the single player campaign of Doom is fantastic. Which is why it’s
such a shame the multiplayer component falls so flat. But before we
get to that, let’s briefly talk about SnapMap – an in-game level
creation tool. It’s a remarkably simple tool that allows players to
build their own SP or MP maps.

However,
that simplicity does appear to come at the price of design
flexibility. With a limited number of environmental assets, and the
need for every part to ‘snap’ neatly together, it does somewhat
restrict how creative your level design can be. This may change –
if new assets are added, and the tools expand to allow for more
flexibility. But currently, it feels like a disappointingly limited
system.

Which
finally bring us to the worst part of Doom – multiplayer. I spent
some time trying to figure out the best way to describe the MP
component of Doom. I eventually settled upon ‘lifeless’. Although
player movement and weapon impact feels better in the final release
than in the beta, the multiplayer of Doom completely lacks the
adrenaline fuelled rush that exists within the campaign.

Compared
to the campaign, the MP feels slow, dull, repetitive and shallow. It
feels tired – like it exists just because it was expected
to. There’s no glory kills in MP. There’s no weapon pick ups
(everyone has a set load-out). There’s no weapon mods – one of
the best components of the SP combat.

It
lacks punch. It lacks energy. There’s a pointless level up and
cosmetic unlock system that, like the MP in general, feels tacked on
because it was expected of a ‘modern’ FPS multiplayer. It’s
such a damn shame, because if the MP side of the game had been as
meticulously designed as the SP, we could have a real GOTY contender
on our hands.

But
instead, we have an excellent SP campaign combined with a mediocre
multiplayer that I was honestly bored of after only a handful of
matches. I’ve heard that the MP may be getting an overhaul in the
future, but I’m not sure it’ll revitalise what is already an
effectively dead player base. If anything, the MP needs to be
redesigned from the ground up and built to the strengths of the SP –
speed, aggression and variety.

But
despite the disappointing MP, Doom is still a game I’d highly
recommend if you’re a fan of FPS. It’s a wonderful combination of
old-school style play, with a modern twist thanks to its thoughtful
and enjoyable level and weapon challenges.